Smith.ai alternatives: 5 answering services, priced
2026-11-09 · 9 min read
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It's Tuesday, 10:40, and you're on your back under a sink with your phone buzzing against the cabinet door. That's the third call this morning you couldn't take, and two of them left no message. Last night you looked at Smith.ai, saw $300 a month for 30 calls, and started wondering what a good month would do to that bill. So now you're pricing Smith.ai alternatives from the truck between jobs.
Below are five that publish their plan prices, picked with a small plumbing or HVAC shop in mind. Every number comes from the vendor's own page, read on November 9, 2026, and none from review sites. AnswerConnect isn't here because the pricing address I tried returned an error. Grasshopper's page showed a starting price of $14 a month but no plan details when I read it, so I left it out too. Prices change, so check again before you sign.
Smith.ai alternatives at a glance
| Option | Who answers | Published price | Past the plan | Terms on the page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai live (the baseline) | People | $300/mo for 30 calls, $810 for 90, $2,100 for 300 | $11.50, $10.50 or $8.50 per call | Month to month, no setup fees |
| Smith.ai automated | Software first, with transfer to a person | Free for 25 calls, $150/mo for 75, $500 for 300 | $3.00, $2.50 or $2.17 per call | Month to month, 30 days' notice |
| Ruby | People | $250/mo for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500 | Not on the pricing page | No activation or setup fees |
| PATLive | People | $99/mo for 50 minutes, $189 for 100, $349 for 200, $479 for 300, $759 for 500, plus larger plans | $2.29 to $1.79 per minute on those plans | 14-day free trial, no contracts |
| Davinci | Live receptionists | Business: $129/mo for 50 minutes, $239 for 100. Premium: $249 for 50, $319 for 100 | Not on the page | No long-term commitment |
| Moneypenny live | People | $165/mo for 50 minutes, $265 for 100, $422 for 200, $985 for 500 | $2.85 to $2.09 per minute | 30 days' notice to cancel |
| Moneypenny automated | Software, with escalation to a person | $99/mo for 50 calls, $199 for 100, $435 for 250, $775 for 500 | $2.39 to $1.69 per call | 30 days' notice to cancel |
| Goodcall | Software. The page names no live agents | $79/mo for 100 unique callers, $129 for 500, $299 for 2,000 | 79, 26 or 15 cents per extra caller | Free demo agent, you pay when you connect a number |
| Missed-call text back (what I build) | The caller gets a text within a minute | Builds start at $500 one-time, then a flat monthly from $99 after an included run-in period | The bill doesn't change with volume | Cancellable |
PATLive also lists a $49 pay-as-you-go plan with no included minutes, at $2.99 a minute, and adds that government taxes and fees are extra. Moneypenny labels each price "Original price" and I couldn't tell from the page whether a discount applies, so ask.
What two call volumes would cost
Plan prices don't tell you much until you put your own calls through them. Here are two shops: one takes 40 calls a month at about three minutes each, and the other takes 120 calls at about two minutes each. The math is mine, using only the prices above. It takes the cheapest published route, leaves add-ons out, and rounds to the dollar.
| Service | 40 calls, 120 minutes | 120 calls, 240 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai live | $415 | $1,125 |
| Ruby | $395 plus 20 minutes at an unpublished rate, or $720 on the 200-minute plan | $720 plus 40 minutes at an unpublished rate, or $1,725 on the 500-minute plan |
| PATLive | $231 | $429 |
| Davinci Business | $239 plus 20 minutes at an unpublished rate | $239 plus 140 minutes at an unpublished rate |
| Moneypenny live | $318 | $518 |
| Smith.ai automated | $45 on the Free plan | $263 on Pro |
| Moneypenny automated | $99 | $243 |
| Goodcall | $79 | $95 at most, since repeat callers count once |
On short calls, PATLive and Moneypenny's per-minute plans come in well under Smith.ai's live plan. That changes when calls run long. At ten minutes a call, those same 40 calls become 400 minutes. PATLive comes to $668 and Moneypenny's live plan to $900, while Smith.ai's live plan stays at $415 because it counts calls. So before you switch, find out how long your calls really run. I worked through that tradeoff in more detail in Smith.ai vs Ruby.
Add-ons move these numbers too. Smith.ai charges $1.50 per call to book appointments, $0.50 for text and email follow-up, and $1.00 for a dedicated Spanish line. The full list is in my Smith.ai pricing post. If you'd want a booking on most calls, add that before you compare.
What each alternative is good for
Ruby: a live voice, and a pricing gap to close first
Ruby's page says its answering is 100% live and available 24/7, including holidays. It lists scheduling, payment collection, lead qualification and intake, and says Spanish and bilingual call handling are available around the clock. What it doesn't print is an overage rate, and in a busy month that's the number you'll care about most. It also doesn't name specific field service software, only "5000+ integrations," so ask about yours.
PATLive: the lowest live bill with every rate published
Of the live services that print their overage rates, PATLive came in lowest in both examples above. Message taking, appointment scheduling, new client intake, emergency dispatch and call screening are all listed as included in every plan, and bilingual answering is at no extra cost. The page says it bills only the time receptionists are live on your calls, and it doesn't count after-call notes. It names Jobber among its integrations, but not Housecall Pro. The 14-day trial is long enough to run through a real rainy week.
Davinci: a cheap start with two things to ask
The Business plans are simple and low, at $129 for 50 minutes. Appointment scheduling doesn't show up until Premium, which starts at $249 for the same 50 minutes. Overage rates aren't on the page. The FAQ is vague about who picks up your calls, so get that in writing along with the overage rate.
Moneypenny: people and software from one vendor
Moneypenny is the one alternative here that sells both, and its FAQ says you can combine them. That suits a shop that wants a person on daytime calls and software on the overnight ones. Bilingual answering is listed on the live plans only. CRM integrations are listed as available, without names.
Goodcall: billing by caller, for simple high-volume calls
Goodcall counts each phone number once a month, says spam and wrong numbers don't count, and doesn't meter minutes. If people call you repeatedly about the same job, that's the cheapest model here. The tradeoff is who the caller reaches: the page names no live agents. Its "external tool" connections mean an API or code you write yourself, with Zapier linked, so connecting it to your job software is a project. Booking and Spanish aren't on the pricing page, so ask before you rely on either.
How to choose
| If your week looks like this | Start with |
|---|---|
| Short calls, and you want a person answering | PATLive or Moneypenny live |
| Long intake calls, ten minutes or more | Stay on Smith.ai live, which counts calls |
| Burst pipes and no-heat calls at night | A live service with your dispatch rules written out |
| Simple questions, and callers fine talking to software | Goodcall or an automated plan |
| You miss calls during the day, and callers will text | A missed-call text back |
Copy this to any vendor before you sign
Hi, I'm pricing phone answering for [Business]. We get about [X] calls a month, averaging [Y] minutes. Could you answer these in writing?
- What would my bill be at that volume, and in a month at double that?
- What's the overage rate on the plan you'd recommend?
- Do spam and wrong numbers count against my plan?
- Are appointment booking, text follow-up and Spanish included, or extra?
- Does it connect to [your job software], and what does it write back to it?
- How much notice do you need if I cancel?
Thanks, [Name]
When a text back covers it, or works alongside
All five of these answer the call. A missed-call text back works on the calls nobody picks up. Within a minute the caller gets a text from your business number asking what they need and where they are. Their answers come in writing, anything you've marked urgent pings your phone, and the rest goes on one callback list. A busy month doesn't change the bill.
It won't help someone on a landline or anyone who won't text back, which is where a live voice earns its rate. You can also run both, with a service on nights and weekends and a text back for the daytime calls you can't reach from under a sink. I compared the two in answering service vs missed-call text back, and there's more on how it fits a trades business on the plumbing automation page.
What stays human
None of these services can quote the job or decide whether a burst pipe gets the 7 a.m. slot. You write the script they follow, and you decide what's urgent enough to interrupt dinner. If you go with an automated option, keep a clear way for a caller to reach a person, because someone standing in an inch of water doesn't want a menu. The callback to a regular who asked for you by name is still yours to make.
If you want a second look before you switch, the free 20 minute process audit starts with where your calls go today. Bring a month of your call log and I'll run it through these pricing models with you. Book it here.